Abbott ‘targeted with racist, sexist abuse’ on Fiona’s Question Time
‘A hostile atmosphere’
DIANE Abbott was caught in a racism and sexism storm amid claims she was jeered on the BBC because she is a black woman. The Shadow Home Secretary said she had been unfairly jeered and interrupted more than other panellists during Question Time on Thursday.
It was also claimed on social media that a floor manager made an innuendo about her past relationship with Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn – and that her name was booed before filming began.
A spokesman for Miss Abbott said they were ‘appalled’ by her treatment, adding: ‘It was clear a hostile atmosphere was whipped up.’
During the programme – the second to be hosted by Fiona Bruce after she took over from David Dimbleby – the audience applauded loudly when it was suggested Labour could not win a general election because they were six points behind the Tories in the polls. Other surveys suggest the parties are neck and neck.
They also clapped noisily when Miss Abbott was challenged by Miss Bruce about Mr Corbyn’s decision to boycott Theresa May’s Brexit talks. It was claimed on Twitter that a floor manager had ‘stoked up anti-Diane Abbott sentiment’ before recording began. Last night the pro-Corbyn Momentum group, whose hard-Left members have been accused of anti-Semitism and misogyny towards moderate Labour MPs, posted a video online attacking the BBC.
It claimed Miss Abbott – the MP for Hackney North and Stoke Newington – received ‘far more and abuse and attacks than white, male Tories’.
The BBC ‘firmly rejected’ claims that Miss Abbott, the first black woman MP, had been treated unfairly on the show in Derby, which voted to Leave in the referendum by 57 to 43 per cent.
Miss Abbott’s spokesman told The Guardian said there were ‘reports of inappropriate and sexist commentary in the audience warm-up’.
They added: ‘A public broadcaster like the BBC should be expected to be a model of impartiality and equality. The BBC cannot claim anything of the sort when analysis of the programme shows that the only black woman on the panel was jeered at and interrupted more times than any other panellist, including by the chair herself.
‘The media must stop legitimising mistreatment, bias and abuse against Miss Abbott as a black woman in public life. The BBC should be ashamed that their programming is complicit in such behaviour.’
Other panellists on Thursday night’s programme included Conservative MP Rory Stewart, SNP MP Kirsty Blackman, politics professor Anand Menon and journalist Isabel Oakeshott.
Question Time and other BBC current affairs programmes have come under fire from far-Left activists amid claims of media bias against Labour.
A BBC spokesman said: ‘We are sorry to hear Miss Abbott’s concerns over the edition of Question Time and we have contacted her team today to reassure them that reports circulating on social media are inaccurate and misleading.
‘Diane is a regular and important contributor to the programme. As we said earlier, we firmly reject claims that any of the panel was treated unfairly either before or during the recording.’
Miss Abbott has appeared on Question Time at least 29 times over several decades. She hit the headlines last September by linking the Government’s immigration policies to those of murderous African dictator Idi Amin.
She claimed Tory ministers were failing to treat migrants as humans – and drew comparison with the Ugandan tyrant who expelled Asians from his country.
Opponents blasted the comments as ‘outrageous’. In November she sparked incredulity by criticising the police tactic of knocking moped thugs off their bikes.